From Saturday in Design Singapore, Danish design house Hay travelled to Australia for the Sydney installment last month. Mandi Keighran catches up with its founder.
September 5th, 2011
Following its recent showing in Singapore, Hay returned to Saturday in Design, this time in Sydney where founder Rolf Hay launched ’About a Chair’ – designed in collaboration with Hee Welling – to the Australian market.
“’About a Chair’ is nothing special – that is what it’s about,” says Hay. “The reason we did ’About a Chair’ was because of the ’Nobody’ chair, which is a very conceptual project. It’s the first chair in the world where the textile is the structure.”
Little Nobody
“We had many design awards with the ’Nobody’ chair, but no one really wants to buy the ’Nobody’ chair. So, I said, ’The next chair we do, should be about a chair’. A chair is really about two things – comfort and aesthetic – and that was what we worked with. We just wanted to do a good basic chair.”
Little Nobody
” ’About a Chair’ was a very tight briefing, but normally we don’t do design briefs. It’s about an idea or technology.”
About A Chair
“One of the most important things for our company is to make footprints of our own time. And a good way to do that is to take advantage of the possibilities of our time… So, we often start with the technology – for us it’s a very important platform.”
“Denmark’s design history is an advantage, but it’s definitely also a disadvantage. Our generation has suffered a lot, because no matter what we did, we were confronted with the fact that Arne Jacobsen already did the best chair in the world. To me, it was in many ways an advantage.”
About A Chair
“The possibilities in our own time must always be generating ideas. But, I must admit I get a kick out of just doing things – isn’t that just human nature? The greatest thing about what I do is when I go to see a new prototype. We work in a different way to the way our parents did, but we basically live in the same way. We eat, we sleep, we make love like our parents did – overall, perhaps you can say, that the news is that there is nothing new except the possibilities. And, it’s great fun.”
Dot Rug
“The reason we are doing what we are doing, is actually because of Giulio Cappellini. In the nineties, they showed very clearly that it was necessary and important to keep on developing new things.”
“In these days we more or less only talk about the environment, but actually I think beauty can save the world. At home I have a little Alessi glass from Jasper Morisson – it’s nothing special, I just like this glass. But if you care about something, they are lasting longer, they don’t break.”
Colour Block bed linen
“I hope people buy our products because of the products, not because of the brand. And to do products for a reasonable price is extremely important.”
Hay
hay.dk
Available in Australia at Corporate Culture
Available in Singapore at Foundry Store and BW Furniture
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
Savage Design’s approach to understanding the relationship between design concepts and user experience, particularly with metalwork, transcends traditional boundaries, blending timeless craftsmanship with digital innovation to create enduring elegance in objects, furnishings, and door furniture.
Channelling the enchanting ambience of the Caffè Greco in Rome, Budapest’s historic Gerbeaud, and Grossi Florentino in Melbourne, Ross Didier’s new collection evokes the designer’s affinity for café experience, while delivering refined seating for contemporary hospitality interiors.
In the pursuit of an uplifting synergy between the inner world and the surrounding environment, internationally acclaimed Interior Architect and Designer Lorena Gaxiola transform the vibration of the auspicious number ‘8’ into mesmerising artistry alongside the Feltex design team, brought to you by GH Commercial.
Sub-Zero and Wolf’s prestigious Kitchen Design Contest (KDC) has celebrated the very best in kitchen innovation and aesthetics for three decades now. Recognising premier kitchen design professionals from around the globe, the KDC facilitates innovation, style and functionality that pushes boundaries.
Explore the heart of the home with Smeg as it redefines modern kitchen design, blending architectural brilliance, elegance, and innovation.
PLANK is known for producing distinctive furniture pieces with universal appeal. At Milan Furniture Fair 2014, we meet with PLANK’s General Manager, Michael Plank, who reveals some of the thinking behind the products. Alice Blackwood reports.
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
Continuing our new series on the design enthusiasts who work in all sorts of different roles across the industry, we speak to Rogerseller’s Claire Drummond.
Adaptive reuse is all the rage across the design industry, and rightly so. Here, we present a selection of articles on this most effective approach to sustainability.